


Of Could Have Beens and Unlived Memories

by Kheta



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMFs, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2018-09-17 04:59:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9306335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kheta/pseuds/Kheta
Summary: A series of snapshots and what if's in the One Piece Universe. Every character will most probably be used at least once.Starting with: What if an Old Man was enough to pay for his family's crimes?





	1. Content Page

**Chapter 1:** Content Page.  
       
**Chapter 2:** Number Sixteen: What if an Old Man was enough to pay for his family's crimes?  
Or Marineford like you've never seen before  
  
**Chapter 3:** Number Twenty: What if Coby was a bounty hunter? The one wherein Coby ended up on a mercenary   
ship instead of a pirate ship all those years ago

 **Chapter 4:** Number Seventeen: What if Shanks joined the Marines after Roger's execution? Part 1 of 2  
Or being selfish and selfless were one in the same and Luffy never changes  
  
**Chapter 5:** Number Twenty-Two: What if Garp started the Revolution? Or how a twist of a boat  
changed everything.  
  
**Chapter 6:** Number Eight: What if CP9 were revolutionaries? Because with someone as  
crazy as Dragon, it's bound to happen.


	2. Number Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garp messes up. Marines put duty over relationships and Ace, Luffy and Sabo don't make it in time. Dragon, Dadan and Woop-Slap all sigh as they think of the Hero who was and the man they once knew.

It happens after the Enies Lobby incident.

Garp's troop had stumbled across the Blackbeard pirates, a group of relatively unknown pirates by chance while restocking their food supply at an island near Water-7. The weakling in the mask- as Garp had dubbed him- attempted to pick a fight Bogart, who was without his cape and looking for some crackers for Vice-Admiral Garp. Despite being a relatively low-ranking officer, Bogart still in his peak performance quickly shoves the brat into his place. Until his allies come.

When Garp finds them, he's furious. Bogart, his most trusted apprentice, is slowly getting absorbed by the Captain's Devil Fruit Powers. Being a person of fight or sleep, and seeing as he'd already woken up from his sleep, Garp does one of the things he does best. He fights.

The rest of his crew is a beat behind him, his doctors rushing to save Bogart and the rest of his officers scattering to both protect the cowering citizens and fight the remaining pirates.

It's an easy fight if you compare it to the days he spent fighting Shiki, Roger and Whitebeard. This brat didn't even compare to them in their prime. Yet Garp can see the threat the pirate will pose and he's sadly, already tiring of their fight, even though it hadn't even been two full hours yet.

In his prime the kid would've been dealt with easily, but his old joints aren't quite what they once were.

Garp thinks he might win, but there's the faintest chance that he'll lose as well. The thought annoys him and he starts making his hits harder, enjoying the way Blackbeard winced, as if every wince meant that he was that much closer to winning.

Of course he doesn't find out the results, because his grandson comes in with swinging fist and an annoyed glare across his features.

"Shitty geezer!" He screams the disrespectful title, aiming one of his fire-fist at Garp.

Garp dodges the hit and Blackbeard looks on in slight interest.

"Back off you damned old man, Teach is mine."

Aiming a punch at Ace's head -for old time sake- he grins as it hits skin and then turns away from Ace, happy to leave his opponent in his grandson's capable hands.

"Zehahahahahaha! Ace, you should have left me with that geezer!" Blackbeard rants.

Garp keeps an ear out, just in case Ace might need his help. But mostly, Garp busies himself with the Sharpshooter who though he had impressive aim, was completely weak without his quick and accurate shot. Of course making him have no gun was the main problem.

That aside, Garp takes him down then watches as Coby and Helmeppo take on some weird donkey. Everything is simple, easy and he manages to say goodbye to his cute grandson with little to no difficulties. Minus the whole knocking him out and sending him flying to a deserted plain of rocks some ways away to avoid arresting him. They arrest the group of pirates and he lets Bogart, who though winded isn't too hurt, deal with all the paperwork and it goes as it should always go.

Almost absentminded, he sends Ensign Curls and Blue Glasses to leave a tiny ship with apology meat for Ace.

As usual they end up back at Marine Headquarters in a chaotic whirlwind.

Sengoku descends upon Garp, quickly holding him by his cape. Sengoku glares at his long-time friend and even longer-time pain in the neck. His mouth is a cannon, spitting words of rage towards Garp.

"Luffy and Ace! You let both of them get away! How stupid are you? Have you seriously gotten that weak!?" His ire is evident in his jab and mocking tone.

"What do you mean, they just got away," Garp says nonchalantly, his pinkie picking his nose.

The duo growl at each other suddenly, their heads butting, not one speck of the respectable officers they should be.

Bogart keeps his gaze low.

Gaining his composure with a small tick to his forehead, Sengoku lowers Garp and stands straighter.

He then coughs lightly, annoyed by the cock-sure grin on Garp's face.

"As I was saying, how stupid are you Garp? I don't care that they are your grandchildren, you let two criminals with a combined bounty eight hundred and fifty million beri get away!" Sengoku goes to say more, sees that Garp had already fallen asleep and with irritation he looks over at Bogart.

His eyes glint beneath his glasses and Bogart shudders at the ominous look he can feel directed towards his superior.

He hears the small rustling, the sound of a pen being uncapped and then another cough.

"Well, consider this meeting adjourned, I will settle things with the Gorosei, but make Garp sign all the papers you've written for his report."

Bogart nods, dragging his sleeping mentor with him, saying nothing about the 'idiot' written across Garp's forehead.

Everything is going so well.

However two days later Sengoku gets an earth-shattering report, given to him directly from Commander-in-chief Kong.

"T-this is ludicrous! You can't possibly…" His eyes are wide and he stares horrified at the papers clenched tightly in his hands.  
  
He hasn't stuttered since he was twelve.

Kong looks down at Sengoku, slightly pitying but mostly uncaring. Years had rendered him uncaring, the justice he sought for being lost in the corruption he'd seen in the world.

"I'm afraid I am very serious, he's gone too far he let more than one billion beri's worth of criminals loose and for what? His pirate grandchildren? Or just because some no-name pirate picked a fight with him? It's unjustifiable, this is an order from the Gorosei themselves so stand down Sengoku. "

Sengoku's unsure of how Kong gained this information, because Garp rarely spoke about his grandchildren, but tucks that question away on his mind and focuses on the main problem at hand.

"Did you guys read the reports properly? He was over-powered by that supposedly no-name Blackbeard and the Strawhats escape was a matter of underestimation! Kong, you can't be serious, I know he's an idiot but…"

Sengoku wonders how insane the Gorosei are being. This is Garp the Fist, Marine hero Garp they can't be serious-

His thoughts are cut off by Kong's authoritative voice.

"We've already peacefully detained him; he hasn't spoken up and is being watched at Marineford by Kizaru and Akainu."

"That's… Where is the justice in that Kong?" He says instead.

Kong says nothing for a while, though he holds the eyes of his apprentice from a lifetime ago.

"You reap what you sow Sengoku."

The tension in the room is thick, but unlike Garp, who would've fought tooth and nail for Sengoku if he were in his place, Sengoku only holds his tongue. Justice is law he thinks.

"In a month's time, Garp will be sentenced and executed for treason against the World Government, you had better not do anything stupid in the meantime."

Kong leaves the room after saying what Sengoku doesn't want to hear and with a devastating blow; Sengoku breaks his desk in half.

Rumours arrive in a flurry and Sengoku makes it perfectly clear that he is against this whole idea to those in the know. Tsuru and Bogart are a step behind him, meanwhile Kong is forced to set everything up. From getting the troublesome Shichibukai together, to preparing the venue and keeping all rumours at bay long enough for the execution to happen without any unwanted visitors.

With that being done, only the admirals, Tsuru, Sengoku, Bogart and Garp's third-in-command knew for sure what was going on. Everyone else at headquarters however, could feel the unease seeping through from the upper echelon.

To ensure that the government could save face, while still getting their message across to the general public, Garp's execution isn't announce to the public until two days before the actual execution, with over seventy of the best skilled Marines already in attendance.

Whispers and realisation dawn on many faces, horror sweeping across all of the seas. The world is in chaos, revolutionaries, pirates and marine officers all equally shocked.

It doesn't change his fate, but with this news becoming public knowledge, Sengoku and Tsuru both go and visit him. The fact that they went at the same time was an unplanned coincidence. Either way the two greet each other outside of Garp's detainment center.

Garp sits on the bed, uncuffed and grinning. For a second Sengoku and Tsuru pretend that they're just visiting him after a long mission. It's a wonderful illusion.

"Hey, it's been a while," Garp greets casually.

Clenching his fist, Sengoku pushes down his irritation and instead brings out a bag of rice-crackers. He enjoys the way Garp's face lights up. Somethings never change.

"I knew you loved me!" He screamed, ripping the bag open.

"Bogart's being stubborn, doesn't want to accept that I'm not fighting so he hasn't visited yet and Aokiji's the only one who'll get me crackers, but he always gets the wrong kind," Garp rambles and Sengoku wants to punch him.

Sengoku wants Garp to magically pull some death-defying stunt from his ass and then everything will be sunshine and rainbows, like what Garp always did back when they were fresh recruits. But justice and pride keeps Sengoku from doing something stupid, like trying to set Garp free.

The worst part is that it's not his pride he's protecting.

Garp however pretends he can't see the struggle his friend is going through and Tsuru half listens to what Garp says, because out of the three of them she was always been the most accepting.

"You're such an idiot," Sengoku says gripping his shirt sleeves tightly and Tsuru nods.

It's such a familiar scene and Garp realises with a jolt that this would be the last time they'd ever chide him together.

Laughing gently, but with no less vigour than usual, Garp mumbles softly.

"I'd always thought that an old man wasn't enough to pay for the crimes of his family," Garp's voice is wistful, ", I guess I was wrong, again."

"I wish you were right," Tsuru says without thinking.

They all nod at Tsuru's exclamation and then they sit in silence.

They'd lost so many friends to the marine life-style, but this felt like the most sickening loss so far. An odd sixty plus years doesn't help them cope at all and they can't celebrate any of the good times right now. So they share a packet of Garp's favourite rice crackers and let each other's presence comfort them for the time being.

Sengoku is forced to attend the execution, as is Tsuru and all of Garp's crew.

It is one of the saddest and most viewed executions since Garp's rivals death twenty-two years priors.

Helmeppo holds Coby back from the end of his jacket -as not to garner unnecessary attention- while planting his feet firmly on the ground. Their eyes shed tears freely as Commander-in-chief Kong sentences Garp.

"Monkey D. Garp, former hero to the Marine's,"

Reporters on Sabaody glance at each other curiously, it was the first time they had ever heard Garp's last name. Monkey D, they look around, it can't be they figure.  
  
Back at Marineford, Bogart's fingers dig into his arms as he wills himself not to break his mentors pride and fight for Vice-Admiral Garp's freedom.

", for your crimes of,"

Tsuru breathes deeply and if a tear were to shed down her face, it would be idiotic and suicidal to point it out.

", treason against the World Governments,"

Sengoku stands next to Tsuru just below the podium, his cap shadowing his frustrated face.

", in the form of failing to capture your grandchildren Monkey D. Luffy and Portgas D. Ace,"

Many marine officers and reporters watching from Sabaody gasp at the news, eyes wide and breath bated.

", thus allowing them to run rampage in the Grand Line and for siring Monkey D. Dragon, leader of the Revolutionary army,"

Everyone who was previously shocked at the former news are now astounded, news reporters wildly reporting these new revelation while listening for anything else.

", furthermore for aiding in the growth of Fire Fist Ace and hiding his heritage as son of Gol D. Roger,"

Marines look at each other in shock, unable to digest this torrent of new information.

The shichibukai that arrived look at each other in interest and curiosity, others keep their faces impassive. They were only there to prove some false sense of unity after all.

Bogart and Sengoku glower at the ground in disbelief. Kong had effortlessly made Garp look like a monstrosity, just by manipulating information. Not only that, but the depth and knowledge of the shared information was too suspicious. As idiotic as Garp was, he was great at keeping secrets when need be.

", you are sentenced to death, though given the rarity of this situation, you are allowed some last words."

After what seemed like an eternity Kong finally finished the sentencing.

Looking up from his spot, where he kneels cuffed to the platform, Garp grins. His friends, his crew mates and people he considered family all watch, some just facing him for the first time since the sentencing started.

"Heh, I'm an old man now, I've lived a life worth living," he starts, eyes closed and smile unrelenting.

Dozens of marines face him, some already crying and others sobbing his name lowly, an odd multitude impassive and uncaring. But no one dares move forward.

"Last words you say? Bwahahahaha, if I'm gonna die for those ungrateful brats, then I may as well let them know," his voice is loud and confident and for a second Kong considers letting the executioners just impale Garp, but he sees less honour in that action than he does in Garp's impending death.

Garp had been useful after all.

"Luffy, Ace, Sabo my stupid grandkids! I'm proud of you idiots! Even you my shitty son! Change the world! Find the One Piece! Cause mayhem, hell if I care anymore!" He shouts to ghost and children and to the only people who ever mattered.

Then he smiles mutely, nodding his head and Kong gives the sign, not a single quiver to his fingers or anger on his face.

The executioners stab straight through Garp's body and he coughs, blood falling down the sides of his mouth.

Garp's crew fall in horror at the bloodied smile their commanding officer gives. They are silent, but angry and the den-den-mushi are cut off then, the last sight is of Garp's grinning face, blood trailing down his mouth.

The next day it's reported that Blackbeard and Jesus Burgess escaped from Impel Down, taking with him his crew-members and several level six prisoners. Separately Buggy the clown, a cluster of level one to five pirates had also escaped, most of them being pirates of level two.

While Buggy's escape is printed, Burgess' escape isn't, sick with the failing justice system Sengoku formally resigns from the corrupt justice system.


	3. Number Twenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coby's a bounty hunter? Or an over glorified messenger? Also, what the hell is he doing on the Grand Line? Oh damn it all he's gonna die!
> 
> Or Coby does have a tendency to fuck his life up, does he not.

All Coby wanted to do, was go fishing. It was so simple, he thinks with crocodile tears streaming down his face. Just hop on the fishing boat and wait for the old man to take him out. So how, he wonders, did he end up on a ship filled with mercenaries and bounty hunters? 

“Oi, brat, you better get ready, Mr 5 and Ms Valentine's Day don’t take well to slackers,” a wise voice berates him.

He stiffens, nods and drops his fishing rod, before wandering around like a headless chicken.

Damn it all, he’s gonna die!

Coby can’t help the regret he feels, he’s gonna die because he was too tired to check which ship he’d walked on!

The only thing that could possibly sound more absurd would be if he’d ended up on a pirate ship. Moaning sadly, Coby wonders if he could just jump over-board. However, he can’t go through with that tempting thought before someone puts a hand on his back. 

The hand belongs to a dark-skinned, serious faced man and all of Coby’s instincts are screaming at him to run. He can feel the intense gaze stabbing at him like knives through flesh. Goosebumps travel up his spine.

“What are you doing, kid?” The man asked simply.

“N-n-nothing, sir!” He screams back alertly.

“Hn, then help me organise the cargo.”

Nodding vigorously, Coby follows the man to certain doom.

_Two and a half years later._

Coby, or Mr 1.5 as some idiot had named him, whined in despair as he and Daz moved across the heated plains of Alabasta. Thought it was nearly evening, the sun just beginning to set, the heat lingered everywhere like a foul stench. How’d he even get here? A whimper stays in his throat. 

“Kid,” Daz said in warning.

Coby threw a half-hearted pout his mentors way. He could’ve been a Petty Officer by now. Or in the least, safe in the East Blue. What idiot decided to drag him across the Grand Line at fourteen? He glanced surreptitiously over at his mentor. As if sensing his ill-hidden thoughts, Daz glared at him, arm turning to glinting metal.

Coby yelped, more from habit than actual fear. He couldn’t beat his mentor in a fight to save his life, but he could very much parry his blows until the time to escape presented itself. Also, given that Daz had taken him under his wing, the man liked him well enough not to kill him thoughtlessly.

He sighed again, feet trudging through the golden sands. Alabasta was gorgeous, more so than the last island they had landed on. More of a country than an island, he wondered half-heartedly what exactly they were doing here. For all he was a high-up member of Barnoque Works, Coby paid little attention to what the actual goal was. Truth be told he was an over-glorified messenger who merely hoped not to be killed in the process of flailing around like a headless chicken. Coby groaned again, he hated life.

“Sometimes I wonder why I haven’t killed you yet,” Daz grumbled before him.

Because I know your real name? Because you trust me? Maybe it’s that I haven’t screwed up a mission before? If you did you’d have to train in another bum who willingly went from island to island in the Grand Line just to deliver messages because you hate den-den mushi’s?

“Killing me would be like taking the time to kill a housefly,” is his tired answer.

Daz gave him an indifferent stare and Coby shrugged. 

People probably thought it’d be more fascinating, being apart of a Utopia in the making. Or something. Blearily he treaded through the heated lands, scowling as wisps of wind drew tendrils of sand to his eyes. Personally he wanted his glasses back, but Daz had called them impractical, which they were in terms of fighting, however his last pair were stellar at keeping sand from his eyes. Which considering they were at Alabasta, would have been advantageous. Coby hated how weird Daz was about things. Flexing a hand, Coby looked at his callouses and sighed.

It seemed too long ago he was a useless kid with no idea how the world rolled. At the Grand Line however, he couldn’t afford to blame being weak any longer. Between pity and death, Coby had truly only one option, survive.

And he had.

Mission after bloodied mission, island after island and sea after sea, he travelled; revelled in life’s simple necessities when he could, he couldn’t do much else. 

Between training under a stoic assassin with an obsession for blood, trying to erase the sign on his head that apparently said ‘KILL ME’ and being as willfully blind as possible, true excitement has faded.

So he took comfort in the taste of fresh water, chilled naturally in wondrous springs. In the quiet the sunset offered, no pirate willing to attack someone as intimidating as Daz without the comfort of darkness as an ambush. The way sand, grass, leaves and snow all managed to somehow dance in the air, no matter the different islands

He smiled pleasantly, lost in thought. So of course some two-bit morons decided to attack them then. It took all of Coby’s willpower to force him in front of his teacher before he could kill the guys.

No doubt Coby had seen and shamefully dealt a few murders, he could not have survived being apart of Barbeque Works other wise. (Barbeque? BaranaQ? Boroughque? What was their stupid name again?) That didn’t mean he preferred blood though, life as a former coward meant he was much a pacifist as he could be without being on the suicidal-edge of living on the Grand Line. 

His moves are quick, hand out stretched as he forces two heads to pound against each other. Leg sweeping out thereafter to knock against a rigid cheekbone. Coby considers himself sufficiently strong and them not falling instantly is a pleasant surprise. One he greets with a swift series of upper cuts and high kicks.

Though his mentor was more adept with weapons, his skills in hand to hand were what the awe-inspired Coby soaked up more readily.

No more than a minute and half pasts, before he bends and unhesitating, takes the three limp bodies on his shoulder. They're heavy, he thinks with a grunt. Three miles he could carry them, maximum, but, more than likely he'd drop them under the nearest shelter instead. He had a spare flask, too many days ill-prepared shaping his paranoia so he had two of anything he’s ever needed in his deceitfully light looking pack. Not acknowledging Coby’s swift response nor his tenderness keeping them alive, Daz continues forward fast as ever, Coby stumbling behind.

It takes a while to find the next best shelter, thirty minutes, twenty five in the least; it's a coincidental series of rocks sticking out from beneath the endless desert. With the heat lowering, they'd be best there, propped directly behind the rock, hidden in plain sight, hopefully to wake up before the coldness of night hits. He places them beneath it as promised, though hasty in dropping them, flask thrown haphazardly to their right, in an attempt to keep Daz in sight.

Per usual Daz is silent, neither approving nor disapproving, a forever indifference. Coby just sighed and thought of a uniform he’d never wear with a sad smile. At this point he didn’t want the uniform, or the rank or the title it came with. All he wanted, was to be able to smile happily after he fought, be proud of the actions he’d committed. It had been too long since knocking someone out had left him feeling anything, really. 

The moon is in the sky, clear and surprising. The walk had been longer than expected, but dry, unsalted meat and water had cleverly tricked his brain’s time-perception.

Things were changing he thought as a quaint little store came into view. His stomach rumbled, with anticipation rather than hunger and him and Daz shared a glance. A gentle harumph and they move forward.

_Seven days later_

It seems almost like a dream, Coby thinks with a warm smile at his new friends. The word was a foreign, he had no friends on his home island due to the few kids his age. There were no friends on the Grand Line.

Hearty laughter interrupts his thoughts and Coby sweat drops slightly, wry smile in place.

Few his heart reminded, there were few friends on the Grand Line, but never none and the thought comforted him more than anything.

“Na Coby~ Come eat before Luffy devours the whole feast!” Sanji’s voice is filled with mirth.

Coby smiles gently, his stomach not hungry but his heart, finally allowed to see light, ached at the chance to hang out with the people who had saved him, his friends.

There was little Coby had done to earn their loyalty; carelessly dropped a flask of water in just the right spot, stopped two reckless puppets from dropping a bomb, and most importantly stayed Mr. 2’s hands from hurting a child, knocked him out with a swift neck chop. The child had done all the work of stopping the war, while Coby himself had stood for so long, frozen as blood shed needlessly. It had taken too long for him to begin disarming opponents, but he thanks a child's bold voice for him managing to compose himself. Without hesitation, Coby had unarmed many people and though their fist could still hurt people, it was not as guaranteed an injury as sword-play and bullets were.

“Here,” Coby looks to the grinning Usopp.

Trembling fingers take the offered sandwich. It's a rich flavour, more tasteful than anything he’d ever had and Coby’s smile was in effect, baffling him with how real it was. Not forced by necessity, but by genuine affection.

“Thank you,” comes out polite, earnest.

Wide black eyes falter, soften, though tinged with a dollop of doubt. 

“No, thank you...Luffy woulda managed without your help, but knowing someone has his back always keeps Cap’n fighting,” is Usopp's sincere declaration. 

Coby accepts the thanks and looks at his calloused fingers and thanks the thankless actions his mentor had forced him to commit and the stupid, tired kid who hadn't checked the ship he boarded.

If two years ago he hadn’t stupidly walked on a mercenary ship, he might not have met these wonderful people, who laughed even as they bleed and fought for more than survival. He might not have needed to meet them either, but the sentiment remains that these people, arguably his age, manage to save him.

Thoughts drifting he thinks of blood, of dark skin correcting sloppy forms. But the noise is jarring and Daz long gone, only a nod to Coby as he's carried away, limping against Ms Doublefinger. 

Coby can’t know the future, can’t predict what will come or how long his feelings will remain, but tonight he is a Straw-Hat member, a friend, a comrade and nakama all in one and for now, it was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I a cop out? Yes, yes I am. The original idea of what I had in mind was the same, Coby joins Baroque Works, meets Luffy and becomes a Straw-Hat. But there was more fighting in the plan. And less blind acceptance, because other than Luffy who just has good enough instincts about people, the Straw-Hats are pretty suspicious of others. However I encountered the problem of Coby not wanting to be a mercenary. Consistently. So, I just improvised, soz lol, it’s a bit lazy but this is honestly the best copy of Baroque Worker Coby I’ve written so far.
> 
> Thanks for reading and hope to see you again.


	4. Number Seventeen

The sun shines brightly on the crowded island of Loguetown and there, in middle of the screaming and laughter, with copious tears falling from their faces stand two teenagers. Hunched over in shame was the red-haired teen and his blue haired companion stood over him, enraged.

“What the hell you red-headed bastard?” The blue haired Buggy whispered to his former shipmate.

“C’mon Buggy, we can save them. Rayleigh, Crocus, Tom. We can save all of them, just come with me,” hope stained Akagami Shanks' voice.

Buggy scrunched his nose up, disgust welling up inside of him. How could Shanks be so stupidly intelligent, so flashily talented and a completely stupid moron? Captain would have hated this as much as Buggy does.

“They don't need saving. They're pirates! They're free and craving adventure! We lost Captain, but we didn't lose our sense of adventure. Shanks, don't be a flashy self-sacrificing bastard!”  
  
Shanks don’t throw your life to them. Shanks stay. Shanks whatever they’re offering isn’t worth losing yourself over. 

“Buggy,” he croaked.

Buggy I need to. Buggy it's better this way. Buggy don't stop me. Buggy come with me. Buggy...I'm becoming a marine officer, they offered me a deal, he didn't say.

“The second you put on their stupid uniform Shanks...We become enemies,” it’s more of a threat than a statement.  

He's begging Shanks not to throw away his self-respect. If Shanks believed at all that they were family- that they were Nakama, he wouldn't go.

Shanks just shakes his head, a short frown on his face. He grimaced and holds his hand out to Buggy. Buggy takes it and pulls Shanks in for a hug. It's short and Shanks can't even hug Buggy back before he's pushed to the ground again.

“From today on you flashy bastard, I'll become the best pirate rival ever and you’ll wish you had joined my crew! You hear me!”

Shanks nods fondly. Sadly.

Buggy walks away from him, and the last thing Shanks sees of him is his bright red and white top.

There are tears tracking down Buggy’s cheek, not embarrassed or angry as usual, but hurt. It stays, lingers, grows darkly in chest, but pig-headedness keeps him from turning back around and showing the flashy bastard his true emotions. 

 **Ten Years Later.** ****

Luffy is… Luffy is something. He’s an incredible force with a giant smile and happy eyes and an aura that screams adventure. He’s so much like Captain Roger it makes Shanks happy and disgusted.

Ten years since his Captain died and he’s a Rear-Admiral. He’s brought in some of their strongest members, Benn his Commodore, Lucky Roo his Officer and Yasopp, the best sharpshoot the Marine have had for decades. They were four of the wildest, most uncaring Marine officers HQ had ever seen. But they were still Marine officers and the thought sickened him.

Sometimes he could appreciate the job. It was almost like being a Pirate, kicking butt and taking names and pissing off the Gorosei. But there were still rules he had to follow. So every year on the month of Captain’s execution, he’d just journey off. He contemplated bringing the boys with him on the latest journey, however he decided it was best not to. Especially after blowing off the last Shichibukai meeting to fight with Mihawk, a Pirate without a crew, who he’d been watching for a little while. Best that trouble be stuck with just him, not the whole squadron.

Somehow his dingy little ship that he’d hired out at the last base carried him right over to the Gray Terminal. Stuff happened and he met Luffy.

And Luffy.

Luffy’s a snot-nosed brat. A cry baby. But his smile. And his eyes. They make Shanks feel young and free again.  
  
So, that’s probably how this happened. 

“Luffy,” he murmured.

Luffy smiles up at him, meat in hand.

“Take this would you,” he places Captain’s Hat on Luffy.

It looks so damned right, Buggy would be proud. _(Buggy would not be proud, Buggy would be confused and pissed. Shanks likes to forget about this side of Buggy.)_

“I don’t want that hat back until you become Pirate King, you got that?” He said proudly.

From his right Makino eyes his Rear-Admiral cape with a raised brow. But he doesn’t care. Luffy deserves the hat.

_(She’s questioning his position and stance as a Marine officer, encouraging a child to become Pirate King, not the hat. He is too over-protective of the hat. He does not realise that.)_

“Shishishishi, why do I need the hat to become Pirate King? You’re weird Shanks,” he laughs good-natured.

“Because it looks cool,” Shanks rolls out, turning to his sake.

It’s a bright future ahead of him, and Shanks was going to make the best of it.

**Ten months later.**

“SHANKS!”

Shanks blinked awake, looked at his slowly wetting paper-work, Benn with his sword drawn and a rather large bump on his head, then towards the ominous direction of Garp’s voice. He looked down again, mind moving a mile a minute. Sengoku. Benn. Garp. Sengoku. Benn. Garp. Sengoku. Benn– He’d die because of Sengoku, at least that bastard would kill him quickly.

Throwing his paperwork in the air, Shanks disarms Benn and runs from him and Garp. Hell if he knows what he did wrong. 

“DID YOU TELL LUFFY TO BECOME PIRATE KING YOU THICK-BONED KNUCKLE-HEAD!?”

One mystery solved. How did Garp know Luffy? Who even cares, time to run to Sengoku and get killed.

_Somewhere in the East Blue._

Luffy, Sabo and Ace all run brandishing pipes, laughter loud in the air. A faint sneeze distracts them, but the hungry the trio decide to keep hunting the giant boar, forgetting about the insignificant sneeze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a part one of a like mini-idea, but was written stand alone. Also, I don't think Shanks would actually take a deal should it be offered, but...Eh.


	5. Number Twenty-Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double uploads for the lols? Y not.

Garp started the revolution like so: the sun, the sea and an ache in his heart for more. His boat had meant to go North-West as he searched for adventure at sea like his parents before him, but a stupid Sea King ate him. By the time he’d made it out of the stupid Sea King’s stomach, he was already at the Calm Belts and the luck of the ‘D’ struck. He swam through the Calm Belts, seventeen and young, dumb as a box of rocks but stronger than a mountain and he never looked back.

Had his boat gone uninterrupted he’d met a snarky girl on a pirate ship with murder in her eyes and he’d have made a life long friend. Monkey D. Garp however, not one to live with regrets merely saw forward and fought more and saw more and lived free as can be.

His journey started happily. He met lizards that could skip on water and animals that spoke and people who fought with rough abandon. Met Sengoku, a funny kid who was already a Marine Commodore and met Roger a weird, selfish bastard who never pulled his punch and a gorgeous information broker who wooed and charmed and thieved her way into his heart.

With an exasperating knack, Garp became notorious as a sailor. Without fail he could sniff trouble out and for a while it’s fun like that. Sengoku stops and jabs and curses but he can’t on any legal bounds arrest Garp, because Garp never collected treasure and he never fought against the World Government and he’d saved Sengoku from drowning enough times for Sengoku to begrudgingly like him. Roger grins at him and they share sake and wonderful tales and he laughs heartily as his make-shift dingy’s take him from island to island. Edward is fun, if not reserved, and he knows how to party even if his Captain’s a total bastard. And Garp somehow stays within all bounds of the law through all of Paradise and he meets people and saves them without realising and pirates and marines alike fear him, because he’s got his mother’s brute strength and his father’s endless will and his brother’s keen haki skills.

However his smile slackens the nearer he is to the New World and his eyes dim and he begins to see the world as it is.

Sengoku is funny and strict and a great drinking partner, but he’s also stubborn and willfully blind. Sometimes his strict isn’t funny and Garp curls his fist as he watches Sengoku escort a group of Tenryuubito around, as if the Celestial Dragon’s weren’t scum. And Tsuru, for all she is a blast to hang with and a good source of laughter, is a little too biased against pirates. A tad too willing to shoot without hesitation. Roger is gutsy as hell, with a will to live greater than even Garp’s. He’s a storm who changes the way the wind blows wherever he goes. But he’s selfish and vindictive, with a hot temper he can’t control and a tendency to rase the world to the ground if he feels he’s been wronged. Rayleigh for all his smarts, can’t see any serious faults in his Captain. Can ignore the burnt villages and the bleeding children because his anger is as cruel as his Captain’s. Edward, as fun, as compassionate, as wise as he is, is a coward against his own crew, even if he sees something wrong with their actions he can’t quite stop them fast enough. Hesitates and stalls and people lose their lives because of it.

The world is bright, but he’s seen the darkest crevices that it hides and for all Garp is known for his quick temper, the most worrying thing the world had never seen, was his real anger. 

The simmering stream of hate and darkness he kept hidden beneath layers of smiles, of sheepish laughter, of affectionate fist fights.

He watches slave traders cart people around like cattle with dark eyes and says nothing. Sees children strapped with collars, bare backed wearing brands like unwanted tattoos and clenches his fist. Comes too late to save the kid with dull eyes as marines leave her, stripped of everything of value she had. Can only offer her a home he’d built while passing through her island. Bites his lips as fishmen and Skypeians flinch at his mere presences. Sees pirates pillage using names and symbols and observes as marines abuse their authority and watches people of different species be subjected to cruelty beyond belief and the anger is like molten lava, steadily brewing inside of him.

Suddenly, the years make him weary and he’s twenty and an information broker still holds his heart, but everything else has changed.

Garp’s no longer seeking adventure, he’s seeking justice. Not the justice the World Government enforce, but a true justice. And that’s what starts the revolution. Not some heart-breaking tale of loss and deception and betrayal, but the simple anger of a man who’d seen too much, too soon.

It comes into existence with an explosion, in the weakest of all blue seas, in a corrupt country shrouded in lies by government officials too cowardly to let the world see the truth.

The nobles who rule over Goa Kingdom are scum. They watch children starve and kick elderly to the curb and the Gray Terminal is filled with people Garp grew up with, who could’ve been more given the opportunity. And Garp decides to give them the opportunity.

Dadan is more than willing to help his revolution. In the years he’d been at sea, his charismatic childhood friend who’d only ever hit hard, had grown up. Woop-Slap complains and aches and calls him brat one too many times, but complies in the end. Over the course of four nights their tiny little island nation is transformed.

Dadan is a force to be reckon with as the bandits she had already been slowly but surely influencing turn to her. They stage a protest and fight off all the weak Marines and all the thieves who killed senselessly. It’s brave and stupid and reckless and so Dadan and Garp and Slappy– he forgets for a second that they’re adults. Remembers instead two kids and a teen who hunted tigers twice their size, craving for more from their dull lives.

Woop Slap– Oh the crooked bastard does what he does best. Lies and cons and gains trust like no one’s business. He plays villagers, bandits, nobles and marines with a quirk of his brow. He settles the politics of it all. Nudges the nobles to leave with careful advising.

“This is a lost country.”

“You will die if you stay here, it’s not worth it!”

“Trust me– Trash like us deserve to burn... But not them, they need to live.”

“Nobles...They’ve always been more than us. I know where I stand in the world. I’m little more than a spec compared to them, so leave us and save them!”

The bright bastard gains the trust of the civilians who feared bandits and Garp’s reputation.

“With the nobles gone, we can finally have our home back!”

“How long have we lived in fear? Fear of bandits who would pillage our homes? Fear of nobles who could kill us with just a word? How much longer will we live like this, until we realise we can be equal!”

“Our children have been divided for so long...We can be one again, so if you want this future, a future we can create, stay here. Stay home. But if you’re too scared of the our future, then leave…”

They play the system with fear and respect like Garp’s always known they could and Garp, he does everything else. Marks Goa Kingdom as his territory, so Pirates steer clear. Gets supplies delivered in fast as they clear the Gray Terminal, teaches civilians how to hunt. Bandits how to farm. He stops land wars before they start and divides the land as equally as possible. There’s little more than 1600 people on a kingdom that once spanned 4000. More than half, pirates and bandits and thieves who want more. It’s chaos, but.

But no one starves to death anymore. Children don’t live in gutters. No one is far richer than anyone else and an area that once just housed trash and broken tools was converted into a farming land in less than a month and it somehow works out. 

It struggles at first. Petty fights by residents and three leaders who didn’t actually know how to lead a country. Traders cutting them off. Politics that only one of them knows how to handle. Financial support being treasure Dadan had hoarded, and not much at that, and jewels Garp had been gifted and money Slappy hasn’t touched since his Cipher Pol days.

Marines come and attack and are defeated by Garp and Dadan and Slappy, because sure two of the three never became famous, but that doesn’t mean they’d ever stopped training. People overestimate Dadan and underestimate Slappy and they start a revolution and never stop. Even if all Dadan’s ever wanted is a man to sweep her off her feet and Woop Slap’s always avoided the media because of his parents. And it might start with a tiny island nation in the weakest of the Blue Seas, but it stretches. It grows. His cause becomes greater.

People call them the revolutionary army and he laughs, eyes bright and scars growing as he and his two childhood friends become the stuff of legends. They liberate countries. Garp fights and leads and protects like always. Dadan’s a step behind him, wreaking havoc and mournfully leaving treasure behind. Slappy fights like they do, but most of his work is the subtle his two idiot friends can’t seem to grasp. The swaying of traders and persuading of corrupt Marine’s to turn a blind eye. Ceruan. Tequila Wolf. Habana. Sibaht. Within five years the revolutionary army manage to create democracies and free slaves and become the justice the world was lacking.

There’s no other Goa Kingdom. They haven’t managed to secure a nation quite as easily as they did their own home, but they gain control from the bottom up. Months of brewing tales and almost feather light persuading. Fights huge and powerful and fun breaking out.

Roger, Rayleigh and Edward, or Whitebeard as people had taken to calling him, laugh themselves silly as they remember a hot-head with painful fist and no direction in life. They still fight and drink and cheer for each other, even with Garp now more wanted than even Roger. (“Che~ I’m the Pirate King but they cheer for that stupid Scarface~”) Shakky sighs, mysterious smile in place as she remembers a fool with his heart on his sleeve. 

Senny groans and Tsuru laughs and Zephyr sighs and the world is in a total power war. Revolutionary against World Government against Pirates. It’s chaos and Garp and maybe even justice.

And then Garp has a kid. And he’s a genius who takes his father’s spot as head of the Revolutionary Army and he has a son as well, who takes all his grandparents hearts away. Luffy meets a noble and an orphan and becomes a family, loses a family and gains a family all over again, but that’s another story that starts like so: the sun, the sea and an ache in his heart for more.

**Author's Note:**

> So starts the saga of 'I've been reading too many au fics and life is boring'. Thanks for taking the time to read this.


End file.
